Unlike human flu, dog flu doesn’t have a season, so as the weather gets nicer and your dog spends more time outside, here are some things to know.
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| Unlike human flu, dog flu doesn’t have a season, so as the weather gets nicer and your dog spends more time outside, here are some things to know about the highly contagious virus. (iStock) |
By Nikki M. Mascali, Metro
While peak flu season for humans is thankfully over after a particularly infectious winter, there is no end for dog flu, which has seen nearly 500 cases of the highly transmissible, airborne virus across the country this year.
“We think about it spreading because it does have a seasonality in
the sense that dogs will be more social because it’s not freezing out
finally," said Dr. Yasmine Mortsakis, founder of New York Veterinary Practice.
Since Mortsakis spoke to Metro late last month, there have been at least three dozen reported cases of dog flu in Brooklyn, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
As the weather warms, New York dog owners will be heading to their
favorite dog park or other city green spaces, where they will likely
interact with other dogs more frequently. Dogs who go to doggie daycare
are also more susceptible to the virus.
“We get concerned that we’ll see outbreaks, particularly as people
travel with their pets,” Mortsakis said. “Your dog travels with you on
an airplane, goes wherever you go. Just because it’s out west, we think
it’s just a matter of time before someone jumps on a plane, and it’s
here.”
To make sure your pup is safe in the event of dog flu stretching
across the nation, Mortsakis suggests getting your dog vaccinated
against both strains that have been detected or making sure you're up to
date on their shots.
“It’s highly contagious and respiratory-based, and dogs don’t have a
natural immunity to it because it’s a fairly new virus,” she added.
“Most dogs that come in contact with it are going to get sick. If left
untreated or in severe cases, it can result in pneumonia or death, so it
is something to be concerned about.”
Symptoms include high fever, loss of appetite, runny noses, sneezing
and coughing. Dogs who have the flu can spread it via communal water
bowls or toys at dog parks or even their human, who can spread it to
other dogs they come in contact with, though it is not transmissible to
humans.
“There are so many ways to catch it in the city because we have such a
dense population of dogs and humans — that’s why it’s so important to
be vaccinated because the more dogs who are, the safer the environment
is for our dog population,” Mortsakis said.
While you certainly can’t put your pooch in a plastic bubble before
heading outside, some things you can do to keep your dog healthy is
avoiding dogs that show the symptoms mentioned above, wiping your dog’s
paws when you come home and bringing your own water bowl to the dog
park.
Visit dogflu.com for more info.
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